This Year's Pharmaceutical and Bio Companies' Goal: "Fostering Global New Drugs"

New Year's Address Common Keywords... "Overcoming Economic Uncertainty and Focusing on Research and Development"

Pharmaceutical and bio companies welcoming the new year have collectively set goals to overcome uncertainties and boldly enter the global market to leap forward as global enterprises. Along with plans to stabilize profit structures and strengthen research and development (R&D) investments to foster innovative new drugs this year, they also expressed their commitment to digital new businesses.

Jo Wook-je, CEO of Yuhan Corporation, stated in his New Year's address on the 2nd, "As this year is right before our 100th anniversary, we will achieve the goals set by each business division based on a strong sense of responsibility and differentiated strategies to enter the mid- to long-term goal of becoming one of the 'Top 50 Global Pharmaceutical Companies'." Jo added, "Although the business environment is expected to remain challenging this year, we must overcome uncertainties, create new paths, and turn crises into opportunities." He also urged, "Establish a virtuous cycle by early generating results through selection and concentration on core tasks such as stabilizing profit structures and new drug development, and reinvesting the secured resources into R&D."

Lee Jang-han, Chairman of Chong Kun Dang, emphasized, "This year should be focused on establishing and executing realistic strategies aimed at maximizing management efficiency." He stressed, "Resources and capabilities must be concentrated on core businesses, and more innovative changes should occur in the R&D sector." Lee further stated, "We need to maximize efficiency based on digital systems such as artificial intelligence (AI) and secure Chong Kun Dang’s own platform technologies in fields including synthetic new drugs, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), antibody therapeutics, and cell and gene therapies (CGT)." He added, "It is a critical time for innovative new drug development," and urged, "To build global competitiveness, all employees’ capabilities must unite and clearly set the future roadmap."

Park Sung-soo, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, which achieved record-high performance last year, presented five management policies for this year: ▲Enhancing customer value ▲Cultivating global talent ▲Leaping to a global leader through innovative new drug development ▲Fostering global new drugs with individual sales of 1 trillion won (1pum 1jo) ▲Focusing on digital new business development. In particular, he outlined a blueprint to expand new drug candidates in various fields such as gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic fibrosis, cancer, and autoimmune diseases to become a world-leading company.

Heo Eun-cheol, CEO of GC Green Cross, said, "I am confident that the two traditional pillars of vaccines and blood products, the two challenging areas of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and primary care for chronic diseases, and the two expanded grounds of domestic and global markets will complement, reinforce, and drive each other, becoming a strong force to overcome crises and lead growth." Heo added, "The day will surely come when the second and third new drugs succeed consecutively in overseas markets, the whole world becomes our workplace, and we finally establish ourselves as an advanced global pharmaceutical company." He also said, "Because I believe in GC Green Cross’s solid strength, this year is even more promising than last year."

Song Young-sook, Chairwoman of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, where the possibility of ending management disputes has increased, said, "The new year is an important year to prepare for a new leap," adding, "We must shed the old shell (gugak) and move forward vigorously to fly globally." She also expressed expectations for the launch of next-generation improved and combination new drugs and achievements in developing obesity treatment pipelines.

Lee Dong-hoon, CEO of SK Biopharm, said, "This year will be the first year of 'globalization of research (R)'." He emphasized, "We must realize the essential goals of innovative new drug development and improving patients’ quality of life." He plans to systematically reorganize a global R&D network connecting Korea, the United States, Asia, and Europe and focus on building top-level research capabilities.

Kim Kyung-ah, CEO of Samsung Bioepis, also forecasted that through consecutive global approvals of biosimilars this year, "We will create an opportunity to step up as a global bio company and prepare for a second leap."